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Three: Quartermaster W. Major, Royal Navy, who was awarded the French Legion of Honour for...
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Three: Quartermaster W. Major, Royal Navy, who was awarded the French Legion of Honour for his services during a 12-man ‘commando-style’ reconnaissance raid on the Tchongar Bridge, in the Sea of Azoff, in July 1855
Crimea 1854-56, 2 clasps, Azoff, Sebastopol (Wm. Major. H.M.S. Ardent.) contemporarily engraved naming; France, Second Empire, Legion of Honour, Chevalier’s breast badge, silver, gold appliqué, and enamel, significant enamel damage and restoration to tips of points; Turkish Crimea 1855, Sardinian issue, unnamed as issued, pierced as issued with small ring suspension, minor edge bruising to first and third, these good very fine; the LdeH fair but a rare award to a Naval rating (3) £800-£1,000
---
French Legion of Honour, Chevailer, London Gazette 1 May 1857.
William Major was born in Woolwich, Kent, in 1823 and entered the Royal Navy in September 1840. He served as Quartermaster in the paddle-sloop H.M.S. Ardent, 5 guns, from 2 July 1851 to 29 August 1856, and saw active service during the Crimean War, being decorated for his services in a dangerous but unsuccessful raid on the Tchongar Bridge in the Sea of Azoff in July 1855.
The Raid on the Tchongar Bridge
The Tchongar Bridge was a secret crossing of the Putrid Sea, on a peninsula west of the Spit of Arabat and Genitchi, which allowed troops and supplies to move from Southern Russia onto the Crimean Peninsula. Its destruction would greatly hamper the movement of Russian forces and supplies to the front.
In July 1855, Captain Sherard Osborn, of the Vesuvius, led a small party of three officers and nine men, including Quartermaster William Major, on a reconnaissance mission, with the ultimate aim of destroying the bridge. The following is his own report of the action:
‘In execution of the plan of proceedings enclosed in my last letter, I left the Spit of Arabat in two light gigs manned as per annexed list on the evening of the 3rd July for Tchongar Bridge. The distance we had to traverse was twenty-one miles. A strong gale from the north-east and the shallow nature of the sea in a part at the end of the first seven miles delayed the passage so much as to render it necessary for me to return to the spit and then secrete the boats until the following night, so as to prevent my intentions being detected by the enemy.
On the 4th, we again got away, the weather more favourable, but still with a north-east wind blowing which had prevailed for ten days and after a long ten-hours' pull through (for the major part) a sea averaging from four to two feet in depth and full of shoals, I found daylight come in upon us whilst still six miles from the bridge. As near to the extensive marshes that fill the charts marked "Putrid Sea" as the water would admit of, we secured the two gigs for the day and throughout the 5th July had an excellent opportunity of observing the vast convoys of camels, waggons, etc. which continued almost incessantly to pour down the Peninsula of Tchongar. Our position only admitted of an oblique view of the bridge, the embankment on either side being mainly visible. Thanks to the excellent arrangements of Commander Rowley Lambert, who diverted the attention of the enemy by a false attack upon Genitchi Straits, the enemy appeared to take no notice of us and not an armed man of any description was seen by the gigs throughout the day.
The fearful heat occasioned by a calm day and a hot sun acting upon the surface of the salt marsh, in which we were secreted, was almost insupportable and warned me that at this season, a lengthened stay in such a position would be impossible. In the evening there appeared every chance of a successful issue to our enterprise and at 9 p.m. we started for the bridge; shoal water, however, soon brought us up and notwithstanding all our search, nothing like a channel for the gigs could be found nearer than about three miles from the bridge. Our guide informed us that the lowness of the water was mainly to be imputed to the strength and prevalence of the late easterly winds and that until we had south-easterly winds for some time, not even a flat boat could reach the bridge.
There was, at midnight, no probability of our reaching the bridge in our boats; the water was only about four to six inches deep and the bottom a soft, deep mud, in which the men sunk to their knees, yielded too insecure a footing for them to risk wading with a load of arms and materials for destroying the bridge. I therefore, with great reluctance, decided to be patient and return to our vessels and await the change of wind, which I am led to hope will raise the water a foot or nine inches over the flats which lie eastward of Tchongar Bridge. I could easily have attacked and destroyed one or more of the convoys which passed before our eyes: indeed, I was at one time on the peninsula of Tchongar and within twenty yards of the road, but doing so would at once have raised an alarm, and the enemy, whose alarm-fires extended from Genitchi as far as the eye could reach towards Perekop, would have taken measures to prevent what I hope may yet be a successful attempt on Tchongar Bridge.
Favoured by a strong northerly gale, I returned to the south-east and reached the ships at 7 a.m. this morning, the crews much exhausted, but I trust a little rest will soon bring them round; and directly the change in the state of the sea takes place, by the commencement of a south-east wind, I shall again make another attempt. Nothing could exceed the zeal and ability exhibited by Lieut. Commander Horton of Her Majesty's ship Ardent and Lieutenant-Commander Commerell of the Weser and they, as well as the crews, did all that men could do in struggling through shallow water, mud and marsh, to merit success.’
It is remarkable that that Osborn, the senior naval officer in the Sea of Azoff, should have joined in with this dangerous exploit. For his services he was awarded the French Legion of Honour and the Ottoman Order of the Medjidieh; the other two officers, Horton and Commerell, were both similarly honoured (and Commerell was also awarded the Victoria Cross for his gallantry in a separate action); and Quartermaster William Major, Boatswain’s Mate Goerge Rowe, and Captain of the Foretop Thomas Potter were all awarded the Legion of Honour.
Major was discharged as Quartermaster from H.M.S. Alecto on 9 May 1861, and in later life was the publican of the Warrior’s Arms in Fratton, Portsmouth. He died there on 11 April 1868, aged 45.
Sold with copied research.
Crimea 1854-56, 2 clasps, Azoff, Sebastopol (Wm. Major. H.M.S. Ardent.) contemporarily engraved naming; France, Second Empire, Legion of Honour, Chevalier’s breast badge, silver, gold appliqué, and enamel, significant enamel damage and restoration to tips of points; Turkish Crimea 1855, Sardinian issue, unnamed as issued, pierced as issued with small ring suspension, minor edge bruising to first and third, these good very fine; the LdeH fair but a rare award to a Naval rating (3) £800-£1,000
---
French Legion of Honour, Chevailer, London Gazette 1 May 1857.
William Major was born in Woolwich, Kent, in 1823 and entered the Royal Navy in September 1840. He served as Quartermaster in the paddle-sloop H.M.S. Ardent, 5 guns, from 2 July 1851 to 29 August 1856, and saw active service during the Crimean War, being decorated for his services in a dangerous but unsuccessful raid on the Tchongar Bridge in the Sea of Azoff in July 1855.
The Raid on the Tchongar Bridge
The Tchongar Bridge was a secret crossing of the Putrid Sea, on a peninsula west of the Spit of Arabat and Genitchi, which allowed troops and supplies to move from Southern Russia onto the Crimean Peninsula. Its destruction would greatly hamper the movement of Russian forces and supplies to the front.
In July 1855, Captain Sherard Osborn, of the Vesuvius, led a small party of three officers and nine men, including Quartermaster William Major, on a reconnaissance mission, with the ultimate aim of destroying the bridge. The following is his own report of the action:
‘In execution of the plan of proceedings enclosed in my last letter, I left the Spit of Arabat in two light gigs manned as per annexed list on the evening of the 3rd July for Tchongar Bridge. The distance we had to traverse was twenty-one miles. A strong gale from the north-east and the shallow nature of the sea in a part at the end of the first seven miles delayed the passage so much as to render it necessary for me to return to the spit and then secrete the boats until the following night, so as to prevent my intentions being detected by the enemy.
On the 4th, we again got away, the weather more favourable, but still with a north-east wind blowing which had prevailed for ten days and after a long ten-hours' pull through (for the major part) a sea averaging from four to two feet in depth and full of shoals, I found daylight come in upon us whilst still six miles from the bridge. As near to the extensive marshes that fill the charts marked "Putrid Sea" as the water would admit of, we secured the two gigs for the day and throughout the 5th July had an excellent opportunity of observing the vast convoys of camels, waggons, etc. which continued almost incessantly to pour down the Peninsula of Tchongar. Our position only admitted of an oblique view of the bridge, the embankment on either side being mainly visible. Thanks to the excellent arrangements of Commander Rowley Lambert, who diverted the attention of the enemy by a false attack upon Genitchi Straits, the enemy appeared to take no notice of us and not an armed man of any description was seen by the gigs throughout the day.
The fearful heat occasioned by a calm day and a hot sun acting upon the surface of the salt marsh, in which we were secreted, was almost insupportable and warned me that at this season, a lengthened stay in such a position would be impossible. In the evening there appeared every chance of a successful issue to our enterprise and at 9 p.m. we started for the bridge; shoal water, however, soon brought us up and notwithstanding all our search, nothing like a channel for the gigs could be found nearer than about three miles from the bridge. Our guide informed us that the lowness of the water was mainly to be imputed to the strength and prevalence of the late easterly winds and that until we had south-easterly winds for some time, not even a flat boat could reach the bridge.
There was, at midnight, no probability of our reaching the bridge in our boats; the water was only about four to six inches deep and the bottom a soft, deep mud, in which the men sunk to their knees, yielded too insecure a footing for them to risk wading with a load of arms and materials for destroying the bridge. I therefore, with great reluctance, decided to be patient and return to our vessels and await the change of wind, which I am led to hope will raise the water a foot or nine inches over the flats which lie eastward of Tchongar Bridge. I could easily have attacked and destroyed one or more of the convoys which passed before our eyes: indeed, I was at one time on the peninsula of Tchongar and within twenty yards of the road, but doing so would at once have raised an alarm, and the enemy, whose alarm-fires extended from Genitchi as far as the eye could reach towards Perekop, would have taken measures to prevent what I hope may yet be a successful attempt on Tchongar Bridge.
Favoured by a strong northerly gale, I returned to the south-east and reached the ships at 7 a.m. this morning, the crews much exhausted, but I trust a little rest will soon bring them round; and directly the change in the state of the sea takes place, by the commencement of a south-east wind, I shall again make another attempt. Nothing could exceed the zeal and ability exhibited by Lieut. Commander Horton of Her Majesty's ship Ardent and Lieutenant-Commander Commerell of the Weser and they, as well as the crews, did all that men could do in struggling through shallow water, mud and marsh, to merit success.’
It is remarkable that that Osborn, the senior naval officer in the Sea of Azoff, should have joined in with this dangerous exploit. For his services he was awarded the French Legion of Honour and the Ottoman Order of the Medjidieh; the other two officers, Horton and Commerell, were both similarly honoured (and Commerell was also awarded the Victoria Cross for his gallantry in a separate action); and Quartermaster William Major, Boatswain’s Mate Goerge Rowe, and Captain of the Foretop Thomas Potter were all awarded the Legion of Honour.
Major was discharged as Quartermaster from H.M.S. Alecto on 9 May 1861, and in later life was the publican of the Warrior’s Arms in Fratton, Portsmouth. He died there on 11 April 1868, aged 45.
Sold with copied research.
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Three: Quartermaster W. Major, Royal Navy, who was awarded the French Legion of Honour for his services during a 12-man ‘commando-style’ reconnaissance raid on the Tchongar Bridge, in the Sea of Azoff, in July 1855
Crimea 1854-56, 2 clasps, Azoff, Sebastopol (Wm. Major. H.M.S. Ardent.) contemporarily engraved naming; France, Second Empire, Legion of Honour, Chevalier’s breast badge, silver, gold appliqué, and enamel, significant enamel damage and restoration to tips of points; Turkish Crimea 1855, Sardinian issue, unnamed as issued, pierced as issued with small ring suspension, minor edge bruising to first and third, these good very fine; the LdeH fair but a rare award to a Naval rating (3) £800-£1,000
---
French Legion of Honour, Chevailer, London Gazette 1 May 1857.
William Major was born in Woolwich, Kent, in 1823 and entered the Royal Navy in September 1840. He served as Quartermaster in the paddle-sloop H.M.S. Ardent, 5 guns, from 2 July 1851 to 29 August 1856, and saw active service during the Crimean War, being decorated for his services in a dangerous but unsuccessful raid on the Tchongar Bridge in the Sea of Azoff in July 1855.
The Raid on the Tchongar Bridge
The Tchongar Bridge was a secret crossing of the Putrid Sea, on a peninsula west of the Spit of Arabat and Genitchi, which allowed troops and supplies to move from Southern Russia onto the Crimean Peninsula. Its destruction would greatly hamper the movement of Russian forces and supplies to the front.
In July 1855, Captain Sherard Osborn, of the Vesuvius, led a small party of three officers and nine men, including Quartermaster William Major, on a reconnaissance mission, with the ultimate aim of destroying the bridge. The following is his own report of the action:
‘In execution of the plan of proceedings enclosed in my last letter, I left the Spit of Arabat in two light gigs manned as per annexed list on the evening of the 3rd July for Tchongar Bridge. The distance we had to traverse was twenty-one miles. A strong gale from the north-east and the shallow nature of the sea in a part at the end of the first seven miles delayed the passage so much as to render it necessary for me to return to the spit and then secrete the boats until the following night, so as to prevent my intentions being detected by the enemy.
On the 4th, we again got away, the weather more favourable, but still with a north-east wind blowing which had prevailed for ten days and after a long ten-hours' pull through (for the major part) a sea averaging from four to two feet in depth and full of shoals, I found daylight come in upon us whilst still six miles from the bridge. As near to the extensive marshes that fill the charts marked "Putrid Sea" as the water would admit of, we secured the two gigs for the day and throughout the 5th July had an excellent opportunity of observing the vast convoys of camels, waggons, etc. which continued almost incessantly to pour down the Peninsula of Tchongar. Our position only admitted of an oblique view of the bridge, the embankment on either side being mainly visible. Thanks to the excellent arrangements of Commander Rowley Lambert, who diverted the attention of the enemy by a false attack upon Genitchi Straits, the enemy appeared to take no notice of us and not an armed man of any description was seen by the gigs throughout the day.
The fearful heat occasioned by a calm day and a hot sun acting upon the surface of the salt marsh, in which we were secreted, was almost insupportable and warned me that at this season, a lengthened stay in such a position would be impossible. In the evening there appeared every chance of a successful issue to our enterprise and at 9 p.m. we started for the bridge; shoal water, however, soon brought us up and notwithstanding all our search, nothing like a channel for the gigs could be found nearer than about three miles from the bridge. Our guide informed us that the lowness of the water was mainly to be imputed to the strength and prevalence of the late easterly winds and that until we had south-easterly winds for some time, not even a flat boat could reach the bridge.
There was, at midnight, no probability of our reaching the bridge in our boats; the water was only about four to six inches deep and the bottom a soft, deep mud, in which the men sunk to their knees, yielded too insecure a footing for them to risk wading with a load of arms and materials for destroying the bridge. I therefore, with great reluctance, decided to be patient and return to our vessels and await the change of wind, which I am led to hope will raise the water a foot or nine inches over the flats which lie eastward of Tchongar Bridge. I could easily have attacked and destroyed one or more of the convoys which passed before our eyes: indeed, I was at one time on the peninsula of Tchongar and within twenty yards of the road, but doing so would at once have raised an alarm, and the enemy, whose alarm-fires extended from Genitchi as far as the eye could reach towards Perekop, would have taken measures to prevent what I hope may yet be a successful attempt on Tchongar Bridge.
Favoured by a strong northerly gale, I returned to the south-east and reached the ships at 7 a.m. this morning, the crews much exhausted, but I trust a little rest will soon bring them round; and directly the change in the state of the sea takes place, by the commencement of a south-east wind, I shall again make another attempt. Nothing could exceed the zeal and ability exhibited by Lieut. Commander Horton of Her Majesty's ship Ardent and Lieutenant-Commander Commerell of the Weser and they, as well as the crews, did all that men could do in struggling through shallow water, mud and marsh, to merit success.’
It is remarkable that that Osborn, the senior naval officer in the Sea of Azoff, should have joined in with this dangerous exploit. For his services he was awarded the French Legion of Honour and the Ottoman Order of the Medjidieh; the other two officers, Horton and Commerell, were both similarly honoured (and Commerell was also awarded the Victoria Cross for his gallantry in a separate action); and Quartermaster William Major, Boatswain’s Mate Goerge Rowe, and Captain of the Foretop Thomas Potter were all awarded the Legion of Honour.
Major was discharged as Quartermaster from H.M.S. Alecto on 9 May 1861, and in later life was the publican of the Warrior’s Arms in Fratton, Portsmouth. He died there on 11 April 1868, aged 45.
Sold with copied research.
Crimea 1854-56, 2 clasps, Azoff, Sebastopol (Wm. Major. H.M.S. Ardent.) contemporarily engraved naming; France, Second Empire, Legion of Honour, Chevalier’s breast badge, silver, gold appliqué, and enamel, significant enamel damage and restoration to tips of points; Turkish Crimea 1855, Sardinian issue, unnamed as issued, pierced as issued with small ring suspension, minor edge bruising to first and third, these good very fine; the LdeH fair but a rare award to a Naval rating (3) £800-£1,000
---
French Legion of Honour, Chevailer, London Gazette 1 May 1857.
William Major was born in Woolwich, Kent, in 1823 and entered the Royal Navy in September 1840. He served as Quartermaster in the paddle-sloop H.M.S. Ardent, 5 guns, from 2 July 1851 to 29 August 1856, and saw active service during the Crimean War, being decorated for his services in a dangerous but unsuccessful raid on the Tchongar Bridge in the Sea of Azoff in July 1855.
The Raid on the Tchongar Bridge
The Tchongar Bridge was a secret crossing of the Putrid Sea, on a peninsula west of the Spit of Arabat and Genitchi, which allowed troops and supplies to move from Southern Russia onto the Crimean Peninsula. Its destruction would greatly hamper the movement of Russian forces and supplies to the front.
In July 1855, Captain Sherard Osborn, of the Vesuvius, led a small party of three officers and nine men, including Quartermaster William Major, on a reconnaissance mission, with the ultimate aim of destroying the bridge. The following is his own report of the action:
‘In execution of the plan of proceedings enclosed in my last letter, I left the Spit of Arabat in two light gigs manned as per annexed list on the evening of the 3rd July for Tchongar Bridge. The distance we had to traverse was twenty-one miles. A strong gale from the north-east and the shallow nature of the sea in a part at the end of the first seven miles delayed the passage so much as to render it necessary for me to return to the spit and then secrete the boats until the following night, so as to prevent my intentions being detected by the enemy.
On the 4th, we again got away, the weather more favourable, but still with a north-east wind blowing which had prevailed for ten days and after a long ten-hours' pull through (for the major part) a sea averaging from four to two feet in depth and full of shoals, I found daylight come in upon us whilst still six miles from the bridge. As near to the extensive marshes that fill the charts marked "Putrid Sea" as the water would admit of, we secured the two gigs for the day and throughout the 5th July had an excellent opportunity of observing the vast convoys of camels, waggons, etc. which continued almost incessantly to pour down the Peninsula of Tchongar. Our position only admitted of an oblique view of the bridge, the embankment on either side being mainly visible. Thanks to the excellent arrangements of Commander Rowley Lambert, who diverted the attention of the enemy by a false attack upon Genitchi Straits, the enemy appeared to take no notice of us and not an armed man of any description was seen by the gigs throughout the day.
The fearful heat occasioned by a calm day and a hot sun acting upon the surface of the salt marsh, in which we were secreted, was almost insupportable and warned me that at this season, a lengthened stay in such a position would be impossible. In the evening there appeared every chance of a successful issue to our enterprise and at 9 p.m. we started for the bridge; shoal water, however, soon brought us up and notwithstanding all our search, nothing like a channel for the gigs could be found nearer than about three miles from the bridge. Our guide informed us that the lowness of the water was mainly to be imputed to the strength and prevalence of the late easterly winds and that until we had south-easterly winds for some time, not even a flat boat could reach the bridge.
There was, at midnight, no probability of our reaching the bridge in our boats; the water was only about four to six inches deep and the bottom a soft, deep mud, in which the men sunk to their knees, yielded too insecure a footing for them to risk wading with a load of arms and materials for destroying the bridge. I therefore, with great reluctance, decided to be patient and return to our vessels and await the change of wind, which I am led to hope will raise the water a foot or nine inches over the flats which lie eastward of Tchongar Bridge. I could easily have attacked and destroyed one or more of the convoys which passed before our eyes: indeed, I was at one time on the peninsula of Tchongar and within twenty yards of the road, but doing so would at once have raised an alarm, and the enemy, whose alarm-fires extended from Genitchi as far as the eye could reach towards Perekop, would have taken measures to prevent what I hope may yet be a successful attempt on Tchongar Bridge.
Favoured by a strong northerly gale, I returned to the south-east and reached the ships at 7 a.m. this morning, the crews much exhausted, but I trust a little rest will soon bring them round; and directly the change in the state of the sea takes place, by the commencement of a south-east wind, I shall again make another attempt. Nothing could exceed the zeal and ability exhibited by Lieut. Commander Horton of Her Majesty's ship Ardent and Lieutenant-Commander Commerell of the Weser and they, as well as the crews, did all that men could do in struggling through shallow water, mud and marsh, to merit success.’
It is remarkable that that Osborn, the senior naval officer in the Sea of Azoff, should have joined in with this dangerous exploit. For his services he was awarded the French Legion of Honour and the Ottoman Order of the Medjidieh; the other two officers, Horton and Commerell, were both similarly honoured (and Commerell was also awarded the Victoria Cross for his gallantry in a separate action); and Quartermaster William Major, Boatswain’s Mate Goerge Rowe, and Captain of the Foretop Thomas Potter were all awarded the Legion of Honour.
Major was discharged as Quartermaster from H.M.S. Alecto on 9 May 1861, and in later life was the publican of the Warrior’s Arms in Fratton, Portsmouth. He died there on 11 April 1868, aged 45.
Sold with copied research.
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